I have given this work 2 stars for its historical interest but that might be generous. The late G. M. Henry (1891-1983) in a letter dated 12 May 1982 described Kirby's book as "completely useless". Since Henry's own work on the Orthoptera of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) and southern India is of such high standard and the volume on Tettigoniidae in the same series was to have been written by Henry (later abandoned) his evaluation of Kirby's volume on the Acridiidae is significant.